MOBILE, Ala. -- A Clarke County preacher whose church burned under
suspicious circumstances pleaded guilty this afternoon to mortgage
fraud and filing a false tax return.

In exchange for the plea, federal prosecutors agreed to seek the
dismissal of an arson charge and aggravated identity theft against Ron
Bordelle Williams.

View full sizeRon Bordelle Williams pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
Both of those charges would have carried mandatory-minimum sentences -- seven years for arson and two for identity theft.

The usual practice of the U.S. Attorney's Office is to demand that
defendants accept guilt to the most serious charges as part of plea
bargains. Officials did not respond to requests for an explanation of
why they did not make similar demands in this case.

Under terms of the plea bargain, prosecutors have agreed to recommend a
sentence at the low end of advisory guidelines, which the U.S.
Probation Office estimates at less than 2 years.

According to his plea agreement, Williams lied on a loan application to
the Federal Housing Administration in April 2005, falsely stating that
he had not been declared bankruptcy within the previous seven years.

In fact, according to court records, Williams, 43, has twice filed for bankruptcy during that time period -- in 2000 and 2002.

Williams also falsely claimed on the FHA form that Nacol Smith was his daughter.

The false tax return charge relates to a Form 1040 on which Williams
listed his 2005 income from Miracles of Prayer/World Life Christian
Center as $13,327. In fact, according to court records, the church paid
$51,033 either directly to the Grove Hill man or to others on his
behalf in payment of his personal living expenses.

In December of that same year, Miracles of Prayer Church/Word of Life
Christian Center on U.S. 43 in Grove Hill caught fire, damaging the
roof and gutting the inside of the building.

Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms &
Explosives said they found "red flags" that led to a probe into the
finances of both Williams and the church. That is when investigators
discovered the fraudulent FHA application, according to court records.

The church filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007. Its former
bookkeeper, Sharon Deniese Jemison, pleaded guilty last year to falsely
stating that the church had complied with a court order, even though it
had failed to close a pre-bankruptcy bank account and failed to
disclose disbursements from that account.